Minimal Damage - Albert van Veenendaal

My fascination for the prepared piano started several years ago by hearing John Cage's Sonata's & Interludes. This astonishing and beautiful music opened up a completely new and unlimited perspective. Cage's music inspired me to start experimenting myself and over the years I developed various ways of altering the sound of the piano by positioning various objects and gadgets on and between the strings, transforming it into some kind of one-person percussion ensemble. My solo album with improvisations and compositions for prepared piano, Minimal Damage (Evil Rabbit Records #13) contains the results of the investigation into this intriguing world of sounds. It is a mixture of percussive and lyrical pieces, composed or improvised. And the exploration is ongoing. By playing solo concerts or using prepared set-ups in ensembles and by sharing insights with other pianists, listening to new music etc., new discoveries are made constantly. To be continued!

Minimal Damage: Miniatures for Prepared Piano

"by a clever positioning of various gadgets between the strings of his piano van veenendaal creates a surprising sound pallet that allows him to explore unknown musical paths. With 'minimal damage' albert van veenendaal succeeded in creating a work that sounds adventurous and daring, yet -through its high degree of variation- is captivating until the end."kwadratuur.be, jan 2011